What a force the conventional death care industry has become! Sometimes looking at the state of the conventional death care industry, we might feel that we can do nothing to change the status quo. Many of us might think that we can do little against such an adversary, but we can make a change. We can all speak to our friends and loved ones about death and our rights, and that is all well and good. However, some of us feel that we can do more and we can. Death Cafes allow local people to meet and discuss all kinds of topics associated with death. You can start your own. Check out their site. They have great resources.Some might want to work directly with loved ones assisting them with the process of death, preparation of the body and memorials. If this is you, you might be interested in becoming a death doula. It this speaks to you, contact the National Home Funeral Alliance. The internet offers many options for training, but the national office would best direct anyone interested in beginning this work.Perhaps these two options do not fit what you might feel you want to do. Perhaps you belong to a religious or spiritual community and your traditions fall outside what the conventional death care industry likes to do. For me as an Orthodox Christian living in Illinois where my loved ones must hire a funeral director, I know that having a traditional funeral will be difficult but not impossible. I suggest if you belong to a spiritual community, perhaps you can begin a ministry or task force to help those at the time of death and following. If you are the leader of such a community, I highly suggest you begin looking for people within the community who can do this work.People every day face the death care industry and have to navigate a way through all the roadblocks set up by the sales people within the industry. Maybe you are not one who can take a step outside the norm and help change the face of death care. Maybe you are. Maybe you have thought about doing something to help change death care in our society. If you are, make a plan and then take small steps forward. You might find that this is the work that fills your heart.

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Caroline Vuyadinov

I graduated from St. Vladamir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestwood, New York with a Master of Divinity. I trained as a chaplain following graduation and worked with a wide variety of people.

When I moved to Canada, I began work in a women's halfway house in Hamilton, Ontario which worked with women in conflict with the law on a federal level. I became the program manager and loved working alongside the women, creating their plans for their reintegration back to the community. I also worked as a liaison with the parole board, parole officers and other community service providers.

Upon my return to the United States, I worked in the Death Care Industry as a Family Service Counselor, which lead me to become a green burial advocate. I co-founded Midwest Green Burial Society with Juliann Salinas. I speak to community groups and have developed practical seminars for a variety of audiences. I have been interviewed on a national podcast and was featured on a WGN spot dealing with green burial.